It was a day of fortune and misfortune. My wife Sandi and I led a Penobscot Valley Audubon field trip last Saturday.
We experienced hits and misses for birds the 16 participants hoped to find.
As guides, Sandi and I were already nervous about this trip when we began planning a Bangor-area itinerary last fall. Usually, we’d seek winter birds in the forest east of Old Town and the unfrozen waters of the Penobscot River.
But it was already apparent that many winter birds wouldn’t be visiting from the far north this year. So, we called the trip “Leader’s Choice,” giving ourselves wiggle room in case conditions necessitated a change of plans.
That proved prophetic. Last Saturday was a beautiful day, but it followed weeks of below-freezing temperatures. The Penobscot was mostly ice above Hampden. Furthermore, this winter is largely finch-free. The woods are abnormally quiet.
There were other logistical challenges. Tides and temperatures were going in opposite directions. The day would start cold with a high tide. As the day warmed, the tide would drop, making it more difficult to find ducks and gulls along the lower Penobscot.
We would also have to deal with a carpool caravan, meaning that our selected stops required sufficient parking for multiple vehicles.
Years ago, I had a humorous discussion with a well-known professional guide. We commiserated that identifying birds was merely the fifth most-important skill for trip leaders.
Ahead on the list: managing people, managing their expectations, managing logistics, and most importantly, knowing where the bathrooms are.
We gathered at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden. The feeders were lively with activity, including three eastern bluebirds singing in the bright morning sun. The group tallied nine species before leaving the parking lot.
We expected to enjoy at least 20 species on the day, and I optimistically predicted 30.
Opting to caravan to our farthest stop, we headed straight to Bucksport to take advantage of the higher tide. It proved to be a wise strategy. The waterfront was alive with waterfowl, including 60 mallards and several American black ducks.
We also saw two surprises.
A female hooded merganser was unexpected. Four American wigeons were more unexpected. Five common goldeneyes and five buffleheads helped us tally six duck species.
The caravan crossed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, swung up the other side of the river, and arrived at Mendall Marsh in Frankfort in time to witness five bald eagles loafing on the ice.
They were not actively hunting, and a large flock of Canada geese nearby seemed unimpressed by their presence.
Just beyond the geese, a flock of common mergansers in the open water were equally nonchalant. Diving ducks have an easier time eluding eagles by just ducking underwater.
At our next stop along the Winterport waterfront, we notched three red-breasted mergansers. We had tallied all three merganser species. Our total species count was already up to 23. Surely, we’d make it to 30.
Then the bottom dropped out.
We found a place to park five cars in downtown Bangor, and began scanning the rooftops for a peregrine falcon known to be hanging out on the taller buildings. No luck.
We next visited Bangor City Forest. After a half hour of walking, we had failed to tally a single new species. It was now late morning. Birds are often lively and vocal in the early morning, then go quiet later in the day.
They did. Not even a chickadee revealed itself.
We hustled up to Caribou Bog Outdoor Center, formerly known as Taylor Bait Farm, off Forest Avenue in Orono. The area is loaded with sumac, which retains its fruit in winter and often draws finches to dinner.
But not this winter.
We rushed to the University of Maine campus, hoping for cedar or Bohemian waxwings eating the fruit in Littlefield Gardens.
Nope.
Webster Park in Orono was our final stop. Neighborhood feeders provided our last new species of the day — four northern cardinals.
Officially, we tallied 26 species on the day. One car behind us spotted wild turkeys. Another spotted two black scoters in Winterport that the rest of us missed, so make that 28.
I heard a Carolina wren near Webster Park, but no one else did and it didn’t call again, so it didn’t count. We have a rule: it doesn’t count, if only the guide gets it.
Thus ended the day. I predicted we would get to 30. My wife predicted we wouldn’t.
She won. Again.
